Four persons lost their lives in the central Iraqi province of Karbala after a shrine was destroyed by a landslide, the health ministry reported on Sunday.Following the Saturday avalanche, rescuers found six survivors among the debris, according to the statement.In case other individuals were still buried beneath the rubble, the search and rescue effort was still going on, it said.
The Qattarat al Imam Ali shrine is located around 25 kilometres from the city of Karbala in a natural depression. The western desert is where it is situated.According to preliminary information, humidity may have been the cause of the landslide, which struck the shrine’s ceiling and caused it to fall, according to a statement from the civil defence office.
Emergency services said that three children had already been saved after the incident on Saturday, and that they were in “excellent condition” and receiving care in a hospital.Through openings in the rubble, rescue workers working through the night under floodlights were able to provide food, water, and supplies of oxygen to the trapped victims.
On Twitter, the “heroic” rescuers were urged to “mobilise all efforts to save the stranded people” by the president of Iraq, Barham Saleh.
